Thanksgiving
by MashiarasDream
Summary: Charlie and her girlfriend invite the Winchester brothers plus Castiel over for Thanksgiving, hoping for a nice loving evening. Only, as usual, Dean and Castiel immediately get into a fight and almost leave before the party even starts. But maybe today is the day when they finally clear the air between them. AU. Dean/Cas, Charlie/OC. Feedback appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

„It'll be alright, Sammy", Ann said quietly.

„It's Sam." His tone was annoyed and he didn't even turn his head in her direction.

"Of course it is, Sam", she amended while her girlfriend shot her a dirty look.

She shrugged helplessly. She wasn't trying to aggravate the situation, she was trying to help. But then, she didn't actually know either of the Winchesters or Castiel Novak all that well. But Charlie had wanted to invite them for a "real" Thanksgiving and so here they were.

Only now Charlie had that concentrated look about her that always meant she was holding back tears, Sam was pacing up and down, up and down, only stopping to look out of the window every so often and the fact that Ann had closed the door dampened the raised voices to a dull background noise, but did nothing to make them forget that Dean and Castiel had now been yelling at each other for a good 10 minutes.

"Something's happening." Sam went a step closer to the window and Ann followed suite.

"Shit."

Dean was raising his arms in one final dramatic gesture and even from here she could lip-read his "Fine!", before he turned on his heels and walked of. For a moment, Castiel just stood there, arms hanging, then he shook his head as if waking up from a trance and started walking in the other direction.

"Shit." Ann looked back at Charlie, whose tears now spilled over onto her cheeks while she was hanging on to one of the countless bowls of food she'd prepared as if holding on for dear life.

"I'm sorry, baby", she ran over to her and gave her a quick kiss, "we're going to get them back and it's going to be a fine evening. I promise." Then she let go of her, knowing there was only one way to save the night: "Come on, Sam. You take Dean, I take Cas."

Her mind provided quite a few choice words for her while they were running out of the door and down the few steps into the courtyard of the apartment complex. Why couldn't these two get their shit together? Every time, every single time it came to this. At least as far as she could see. Charlie swore that they actually were good company. She had gone as far as using the word "sweet", which Ann was sure Dean Winchester would take serious offense to if he ever found out. Not that she cared. Her body provided her reaction for her, making her snarl and hiss in the direction of Dean. She was pretty sure that this was all his fault. And she wanted to bash anyone's teeth in who made her baby cry.

She slowed to a jog and tried to reign in her anger. Among the things she had learned about Castiel so far was that he wouldn't listen if she was angry. He'd just keep walking away from her at his own pace. Not necessarily a fast pace that she couldn't match, but fat lot of good that would do her if she didn't get him to change direction.

"Cas! Cas, wait up."

Nope, no reaction.

"Cas, please. Charlie is going to kick my butt if I don't bring you back."

At least he stopped, even if he didn't turn to her. She closed up the last few steps to him. He still didn't turn so she walked around all the way to the other side to stand in front of him.

He looked at her quizzically for a moment and then decided: "No, she wouldn't. Charlie isn't prone to violence."

That made Ann laugh: "Unless Dean is around, you mean." Then she added: "Thanks for waiting for me, Cas."

But Castiel was already back in his own thoughts: "It seems that Dean brings out violent tendencies in humans."

"Yourself included?" she asked with a sly smile that made Cas glare at her.

She shrugged: "Come on, Cas. I don't know you very well, but every idiot can see that you care about Dean." She worded that carefully, not sure how much of his inner feelings Castiel was willing to divulge.

"Yes", he answered softly after a moment's pause, "yes, I do care about him."

His voice was so lost that she automatically put a hand on his arm to comfort him. But she let it sink again, when he went rigid. Cas was not a huggy person. Actually, now that she thought about it, only Dean was ever allowed to hug him. Everyone else he flinched away from. Even Sam.

She held her hands up to show that she got it. Then she let herself plop down on the steps to the apartment house they were currently in front of: "Want to talk about it?"

For a long minute, Castiel just stood there, head angled slightly to the side, then he carefully slid in beside her. She took it as a good sign.

"I like the shirt, by the way", she said when the silence stretched. Cas had exchanged his usual crumpled suit and trench-coat for plaid and jeans.

"It seemed to be fitting the occasion."

Yeah, that was the kind of parties Charlie gave, where people dressed down instead of up. Unless it was a LARP party of course. The royal court was quite fancy.

"So, Lisa, huh? Dean seeing her again?" She ventured into the shark-infested territory. She hadn't actually heard what started the fight, but there had been mentioning of Lisa Braeden and soon after there had been bad words and then there had been Charlie screaming at the guys to take their fight outside because she was going to bring down all Goddesses she knew on them if anyone got punched in her apartment on Thanksgiving.

"Dean can do whatever he wants", came the sullen reply.

It was an effort to keep the edges of her mouth from twitching. However socially awkward Cas was, he was still adorable when he was pouting.

So she kept her voice calm and asked him gently: "Does he even know what you feel?"

It didn't seem too hard to figure it out, how much Castiel liked Dean. How hurt he reacted when Dean talked about his one-night-stands. How much harder he took it when it seemed to be something more serious than a fling. Like the thing with Lisa. That seemed to be something Dean might actually end up getting committed to.

Ann remembered how that felt. She had had plenty of opportunity to get her heart broken before she met Charlie. Plenty of opportunities to be the wrong gender or the wrong person or both.

Castiel kept staring into the distance, where the sunset already faded into the dimmer light of the night city.

"Come on, Cas, talk to me. Are you angry at him for meeting Lisa again? Or for not seeing what's right in front of his eyes?"

Cas of course didn't answer to that, either.

She sighed. "You gotta tell him, hun. He won't notice on his own. He's too caught up in –" she drew a vague gesture of everything and nothing in the air.

That got a reaction at least, Cas leaned forward and fixed her with his trademark stare. She was immediately uncomfortable. His direct stare felt like he had a way to look into her soul. Not that she had anything to hide but jeez: "Personal space, Cas. Personal space."

He took the hint and retreated to a less intruding pose. Finally, he replied: "I do not have the words to talk about it with you. How could I talk about it with him?"

She shrugged: "Find the words."

"Are they just lying on the street where I could find them?" From zero to agitated in one sentence.

She tried to keep her voice calm but determined: "On the streets, over the rainbow, in the heavens, it doesn't matter."

"In the heavens? You believe that I can find the words for an abomination in heaven?"

"Whoa, Cas." She sat back startled. "I didn't take you for the religious type."

His eyebrows knitted together as he fixed her intently: "I am named after an angel. What did you expect? That I was an atheist?"

Instinctively, she moved away from him a little. As gentle as Castiel's normal demeanor was, when he was angry, he commanded a presence that made you want to be someplace else. "I'm sorry", she apologized, "I didn't want to get into a fight, ok?"

It needed a moment for Castiel's anger to simmer down. She just waited quietly until he turned away from her with an abrupt motion and looked back at the sky. The first stars where starting to come out.

He couldn't really let this stand without even inquiring a little further, though. "So, is it God's will then that Dean should be dating Lisa and you should be sitting out here with me moping?" she asked gently.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Hey, I'm not the religious one here. You tell me, what is God's will then?"

The last remnants of the anger fell in on themselves, leaving a Castiel that sounded more vulnerable than ever. "How should I know? He doesn't talk to me."

A spark of pain made her heart ache, even though she had to admit that she was also a bit relieved. She didn't have good experiences with people who claimed that God talked to them. She resisted the urge to hug Castiel and just asked him: "What do you want then?"

His answer came fast like he either didn't need to think about this at all or had thought about it too much already: "Dean to be safe and happy."

"Yeah." She got that. She wanted the same for Charlie. Speaking of Charlie: "Want to go back?"

"No."

She sighed and rephrased her question: "Will you come back with me?"

This time, he nodded. "He needs to apologize, though."

"Dean?"

Another nod.

"What did he do?"

"He knows."

"Alright." She got up and held out her hand. "Come on then."

Castiel looked at her hand, pointedly ignored it and got up on his own.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time they made it back to the apartment, Dean and Sam were already there.

Charlie looked more pissed than teary now, which relieved Ann only for a second, seeing that her girlfriend was right in Dean's face and telling him off. Dean didn't look all too happy about it. Probably debating either punching her or bailing again.

Ann barged in before he could do any of these things. She wanted to prevent Cas from hearing any of this anyway. That would only upset him again and running after him once was enough for one night.

"You, mister", she walked up to them, tried to be inconspicuous about pushing her girlfriend out of the way of harm and poked Dean in the chest with her index finger, "you will apologize to Cas right now."

"Hey! Stop that, lady!"

She got her hand out of his reach before he could slap it away but kept glaring at him. "Go. Apologize. Now." She nodded her head in the direction of Castiel, who had stopped in the doorway.

Dean's face was tense and he was on the verge of answering something snide when he followed her line of sight and saw Cas who looked properly upset still. "Jesus", Dean muttered, closed his eyes for a second and rubbed his face with both hands. "Fine", he finally murmured, obviously giving in, even though his expression said: 'Why does it always have to be me?' He stepped past her: "I didn't mean it, Cas. You're my best friend so you already know that. There's no need to give me a hard time about it, alright?"

Castiel had his head at a slight angle now, an indication that he was listening intently and analyzing every word that was said.

"So – we good again?" Obviously extremely uncomfortable, Dean tried to cut the moment short by giving Cas a manly hug, but Cas side-stepped him.

"Not good enough", was his verdict. He didn't give Dean another glance, just walked past him: "I would enjoy some food now. Since I have been made to come back, food is the least you could offer."

That brought a groan from Dean and an angry snort from Charlie. Only Sam didn't seem annoyed, only puzzled as he was standing there with his arms wide open and helpless. "Guys? Seriously. Will someone tell me what is happening here?"

Charlie patted his arm on her way to the kitchen. "Your brother is being an assbutt and Cas is letting him know. Cas's word by the way, not mine."

"I never said that." Cas turned around all offended innocence before obviously remembering that he had indeed said that. "Not about Dean anyway", he concluded lamely.

Ann rolled her eyes. "Assbutt? Really? That's the best you could come up with?"

"That's what I said", Dean said smugly.

"Maybe I will say it about you after all", Castiel frowned.

"But then you'd have to apologize", Dean smirked.

Castiel thought about this. "Possibly correct. I won't do it anyway. I'm polite, Dean. Something you should think about trying out, too."

"Should I? I think I'm pretty damn polite."

"Guys? Some help with the food?" Charlie was getting impatient.

"Coming", Ann answered.

She and Sam were the only ones answering Charlie's call, though, Dean and Castiel already lost in a world of their own, debating the levels of politeness that Dean might or might not reach in his life.

Ann pressed the bowl with the mashed potatoes in Sam's hand and send him over to the living room. Then she turned back to Charlie: "God, these two need to hash this out or they're going to make us all crazy."

Charlie stared at the two of them for a second through the open kitchen door. "We could lock them in the bedroom and not let them out until they're over with it."

Ann crunched up her nose in disgust: "Lock them in OUR bedroom?"

"Lock whom in your bedroom?"

Ann blushed embarrassedly. She hadn't heard Sam come back. "No one."

"Guys, really. I'm grown up. You can talk to me."

Charlie sighed exasperatedly: "Your brother and Cas, you idjit."

"Since when is 'idjit' part of your vocabulary?"

"That is the only question you have about this, Sam Winchester? Really?" Charlie put her hands on her hips, all righteous indignation.

"Uh, Sam, why don't you to take the turkey over to the table? We can get the rest here." Ann tried to defuse the situation before her girlfriend accidentally started telling Sam what exactly she thought his brother and Cas would be doing when they locked the two in the bedroom. Charlie had an active imagination and oversharing was something she did frequently.

"Sam?"

But Sam was watching his brother and Castiel now, the two completely engrossed in their play-fight and oblivious to their audience. They looked so much like a couple that there was no way Sam wouldn't come to the same conclusion.

"Umm, sorry, man", Ann finally said, giving up the battle for Sam's innocence as lost. "But they are getting a little obnoxious, dancing around each other like this."

"Dean's not…"

"… getting it straight these days?" Charlie said bluntly.

"Charlie!" Ann scolded her.

"Oh, come on", Charlie rolled her eyes. "That was a good pun. Besides, see Dean smile even though Cas is telling him he's an ass? When does Dean ever smile? Let alone when being told off."

"That doesn't mean anything", Sam replied stubbornly.

"Oh, the blissful ignorance of the young", Charlie chuckled. "Here, turkey, table, now." She pressed the pan into Sam's hand and strode out towards the others: "Hey, stop bitching like an old married couple and help."

_Short chapter, sorry about that. Please leave feedback! You know how it is, writers are the kind of monsters that live of comments yumm yumm. _


	3. Chapter 3

Once the food was on the table and everyone settled down, Charlie seemed to relax a little, as Ann noted with relief. Her girlfriend was smart and capable but she could work herself into a frenzy that was hard to take for anyone, herself included. But with the acute crisis averted, her spirits lifted.

"Man, this is good food. Thanks, Charlie."

"You're welcome, Dean", Charlie smiled warmly. "I would have made you a pie, but you know, kitchen is too small for everything at once."

"Yeah, well, don't worry. Cas doesn't like them, anyway."

"Cas doesn't like them", Sam repeated flatly.

"Yeah, man, you know that", Dean looked up from his plate at his brother, mouth so full that it was a miracle the words were understandable at all.

"Right, I know that", Sam rolled his eyes.

"What?" Dean made a baffled sound before stuffing the next bit of turkey in his mouth.

"Nothing", Sam shook his head.

"I wouldn't be upset about pie", Castiel chimed in. "I would eat it even though it is not my favorite. Because I am polite", he added with a pointed look at Dean.

Ann couldn't help but giggle while Dean groaned again.

"Leave me alone, Cas."

"Once you have managed an actual apology."

"Alright. I apologize, Cas. Alright? It was a mean thing to say to you. I won't do it again." Dean's voice was grumpy, but to Ann's surprise it also sounded like he actually meant it.

"Hmm", Cas thought about it. "Better. I accept the apology."

Dean heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Cas. It would be easier, though, you know? If you called me an – assbutt every so often. Just to get even."

"I do not get even", was Cas's stoic reply.

"No, I guess you don't."

Sam chuckled: "You should try it, really. It always makes me feel better to call him a jerk."

"Be quiet, you little shit", Dean grumbled.

"Jerk! See? Already feeling better."

Ann looked at Sam sideways. He wasn't feeling better, she could tell. All he did was trying to get back on familiar territory.

Dean rolled his eyes at his brother but he kept talking to Castiel. There was something serious about him tonight: "I know you are polite and I am not. I know you are caring about everyone including the bees and I am not. I know that you are a better person than I am, Cas. Honestly, I know it. There is no need to remind me at every opportunity."

Castiel immediately frowned. "I'm sorry", he said quietly.

"What for?"

"I hurt your feelings, Dean. I didn't want that. So I'm sorry."

"Jesus, Cas", Dean ran a hand through his hair. "It's alright. Who else would point out my flaws to me if not you?"

"Oh, would you stop with the chick flick, please?" Sam sighed exaggeratedly.

"What's your problem, Sam?" the line of Dean's jaw immediately hardened.

"You are! Just… just…", but Sam only threw his hands up in the air, defeated by the lack of vocabulary for this situation. Then he turned to Charlie. "Give me those keys, please? I think we need to go through with this. If just so that I don't have to guess and interpret anymore."

Charlie's eyes grew big. "Sam! You can't mean that!"

"Oh believe me, I can!"

Sam sounded dead serious and it was too much for Charlie. She started laughing.

Ann shook her head: "No, no, no, no. Over my dead body."

"They can always buy us new sheets", Charlie giggled.

"New furniture you mean. Cause I'm not touching nothing after they've been in there. No offense, guys." Ann shuddered.

Sam had started to giggle quietly, too, but had broken down on the table laughing by now. Or was it sobbing? It sounded painful.

Dean and Castiel looked utterly bewildered at the exchange, but finally a slow sense of mortified understanding spread over Dean's face.

That was the moment at which Ann couldn't keep her laughter in anymore, either. Dean's face slowly turning bright beet-red while Castiel just frowned slightly was too much for her. "Oh God, you two are just too much."

Dean did what he always did when he had no idea how to get a handle on things and tried to bully his way through the moment, his voice suddenly low and dangerous: "Sam? You wanna stop laughing and explain yourself. Right now."

"Oh, leave your brother alone, it's not his fault that we accidentally outed you", Charlie threw her napkin at Dean.

Dean caught it easily but then he just stopped mid-motion when Charlie's meaning caught up with him. "You did what?"

Ann kicked her girlfriend in the shin to get her to shut up. Messing with Dean when he was seriously pissed was never a good idea. "Nothing, Dean. We did nothing."

Charlie obviously judged the situation differently than Ann. "You're using Winchester logic on him? How do you think that's going to work? He invented it!"

"What the hell is wrong with you two? All that lesbian sex go to your brains?" Dean snarled, his whole body already in an angry forward motion when Cas laid a hand on his arm.

"It's alright, Dean. There is no need for this."

For a moment, there was a breathless silence in the room. Then Dean let himself fall back in his chair. He groaned and shook his head and for the third time tonight tried to rub the tension out of his face. "You all are going to be the death of me", he muttered. But the anger had drained out of him.

Sam's voice was soft when it filled the empty space after Dean's words: "It's only ever him, you know that right? You'd punch me but he lays one hand on your arm and your anger just dissipates."

For a second, Dean's shoulders tensed, but then he just settled for rubbing his neck awkwardly: "Yeah, well, what can I say. Cas is a good person. I don't want to disappoint him."

He half-smiled at Cas who ducked his head and smiled back shyly.

"You, on the other hand, are a jerk. So stop that", Dean told his brother.

Sam shook his head: "Dude, you've called me worse."

"Behold the maximum level of politeness Dean can reach", Charlie said with a sarcastic smile.

But since he had accepted Dean's apology, Castiel didn't let her get away with this anymore. He frowned disapprovingly: "You shouldn't make fun of him. He's trying."

"Yeah, right", Charlie replied drily.

But Dean just looked at Cas, took his hand for a second and squeezed it: "I can fight my own battles. But thanks for defending me, Cas."


	4. Chapter 4

A few hours, a lot of food and quite a few drinks later, they made their way over to the living-room. Sam ended up on the big leather chair, leaving the sitting arrangements on the couch for the others to sort out. It didn't take all that much sorting, though. Ann gave up her place on the couch voluntarily, settling down on the floor and leaning into Charlie's legs. That left enough room for Dean to sit next to Charlie and Cas to sit next to Dean.

Charlie hit the play button on the remote and the first notes of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving came on. Charlie watched that movie every year for Thanksgiving. Apparently she had done so since she was five. "Cause Charlies might be dorks but we stick together" was her explanation.

The guys weren't overwhelmed with the movie choice, but they knew Charlie and her traditions, so they humored her. It didn't take long before a peaceful quiet settled over them while they listened to the squeaky voices and jazz music. Ann smiled to herself and snuggled deeper into Charlie who softly stroked her hair for a little while, before settling back on the couch.

When Ann looked up the next time, somewhere in the middle of the movie, Dean had gotten assaulted from both sides, Charlie curled up against his right side and Cas softly snoring against his left.

Dean saw her raised eyebrows and shrugged. Ann gave him a sympathetic smile and shrugged, too. If he was ok with it, so was she.

As the credits rolled, movement above her indicated that Charlie was waking up. "Did I miss anything?"

"You made me watch the whole stupid cartoon movie and didn't even make it through the first 10 minutes yourself. I should be pissed", Dean chuckled. "Well, at least you served more than toast. Win for us. And you have more hair than Chuck, so that's a win for you."

Charlie yawned, and punched him lightly in the ribs. "How often do you think I've heard that one before?"

"Never?"

"Guess again."

"Uhh, ok, every year?"

"Closer. Just cause you've never been around for Thanksgiving, doesn't mean you're the first person on the planet to make Charlie Brown jokes." Charlie glanced over at Sam who had slumped down in his chair, to all appearances completely out. "How come you two made it over here this year anyway? Old man not going to be angry?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah, he will be angry." Dean's face never closed up faster than when talking about John Winchester.

But Charlie knew him long enough that she could push her point: "Why did you come then?"

"Charlie…"

"Dean…"

Dean also snuck a glance at Sam, whose huge frame was folded awkwardly into the chair. "You wanna know why?" he whispered furtively when he was sure Sam was out, bitterness creeping into the edge in his voice: "Because he told me the best memory he had, like the best memory ever, was of that one Thanksgiving when Dad took me on the road with him for a job and dropped Sam off at some random family. Sam didn't even know them, Charlie! He was there for like a week and never saw them again after, either. That's his best memory. How the fuck can I drag him back to the old man after he told me that? And Sam ain't gonna spend Thanksgiving without me. Cause that's not who he is. Cause he's gonna try to make it right. But he can't. So here we are."

"Shit", Charlie muttered softly. She laid her hand on Dean's: "But what about you, Dean? You work the family business, you gotta face your Dad about this."

"Yeah, nothing to be done about that. I got a fair amount of heat already. The aftermath won't be any prettier, I guess."

"Dean…" Worried blue eyes stared at Dean from the other side of the couch.

Dean sighed but he managed a reassuring smile for Castiel's sake: "It's alright, Cas. I'm used to taking his crap."

"That doesn't make it alright."

"Yeah, but it also ain't like I'm 12 anymore. He can spout bullshit but he can't beat me up like he used to."

Even Ann could see the change in Castiel. Big worried eyes drawing together, jawline clenching, spine straightening.

Quickly drawing his hand away from Charlie, Dean cupped it over Cas's fingers. "No need for that, Cas. No need to worry about me. It's going to be alright."

It was meant to be soothing but judging by Cas's snarl, it didn't help much.

"Don't think about John. Think about Sam," Dean nodded in Sam's direction, "he's had a good evening. He's going to have a good memory of this Thanksgiving. It's worth it, believe me."

Ann suppressed her smile. Dean could be such a macho asshole, but there were moments when you just wanted to hug him. She understood why Charlie was friends with him.

For a long moment, Castiel's eyes held on to a deep fire as if he wanted roast John Winchester in the pits of hell, but then he looked into Dean's pleading eyes and his expression softened. He looked down on Dean's hand where it cupped his.

Dean saw the movement and wanted to draw his hand away, but Cas caught it and laced his fingers through Dean's. "I swear, if he ever lays a finger on you, I'll kill him." His voice was a whole octave deeper than usual. There was no doubt he was serious about this.

"Why do you put up with John's shit anyway?" Charlie's voice was so quiet it got almost lost but it diverted enough attention that Dean and Cas could regroup.

Dean turned back to her. "Family. Before everything. That's actually one of the good things the old bastard's taught me."

A slightly choked noise from the armchair made them turn around. It looked suspiciously like Sam had been awake longer than just a few seconds, too, because he grimaced and blushed when suddenly all eyes were on him.

But Dean's voice was steady now and he held his brother's gaze: "The other good thing he taught me is that it is my job to take care of you, Sammy. Make sure you're safe. I'll do him one better and make sure you got a shot at the life you want, too. Make sure you're happy. Best as I can, anyway."

"Dean…" Sam had almost the same expression, Cas had had when he woke up. Only the pain was much stronger in Sam's eyes.

"It's alright, Sammy. It's what I do."

"But you don't have to." Sam shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, Dean. I'm grateful. And I sure as hell don't want to spend Thanksgiving with Dad. But – take care of yourself for once, Dean. Go and fuck Cas if that's what you want. Or take the time at least to figure out whether that is what you want. You know, do something that makes YOU happy."

They all held their breath when Sam dropped the f-word but Dean didn't even flinch. "I can't, Sammy." Then he turned around to Castiel: "I can't, Cas." Almost tenderly, he extracted his fingers out of Castiel's grasp. "I ain't stupid. And it ain't like I can't feel the pull. But I gotta keep it together. And this…" he drew a vague gesture in the air, "us, it doesn't feel very together to me. I'm sorry, Cas. I really am."

Worry was creasing Castiel's brow. Ann thought he looked like he wanted to hug Dean. Wanted to make it better by his pure physical presence. But instead he just shook his head. "You don't need to apologize, Dean. All I want is for you to be happy. I'll do what you ask of me. Even if you ask me to leave."

"Oh, the hell you will!" Sam shouted, apparently more forceful than he had planned to because he blushed a deep scarlet. He didn't back down, though. "You're one of the few good things Dean has going for himself. I'm not going to let him throw that away. And if I have to lock you in the bedroom for it, I will. No, Dean, I will." He interrupted when his brother opened his mouth to answer.

Dean held his hands up in defeat. "You might have noticed that I never said that, anyway." He turned to Castiel: "I didn't say that, Cas. I'd never say that."

Cas just watched Dean silently, his blue eyes so big and round and lost that something in Ann melted. She had no idea how Dean was not kissing Castiel right this second. She tried to catch Castiel's eyes, to urge him on. Maybe if he was the one making the first step here, things could still work out. But Cas kept his eyes on Dean's, never wavering.

"We're family. We need you, Cas. I need you." Dean was openly pleading with Castiel now. Saying what his inner censor would allow him to say. As safe as he could be while still telling Cas how much he meant to him.

A small smile spread on Castiel's face, transforming it into something as beautiful as a spring morning, even though the sadness lingered. "I love you, too, Dean", he replied simply.

"I didn't say that", Dean immediately protested.

"I know. But you wanted to." There was a mischievous gleam in Cas' eyes and a smile in his voice that Ann hadn't seen before.

And she understood that something had changed. That Castiel had understood something that he hadn't known before. And that it made him happy.


End file.
